This invention relates generally to structural laminates for use as wall enclosures around athletic playing surfaces. The invention relates specifically to a structural laminate suitable for use in a system of interconnected dasher board panels for use in outdoor or indoor hockey or skating rinks.
The use of structural laminates for hockey dasherboard systems is well known. Everyone who has seen a hockey game in person or on television can recognize that hockey dasherboards have to be able to withstand body checks, pucks flying and thousands of impacts over the course of the dasherboard systems life span while keeping the players and the puck inside the rink. It is, therefore, logical that a hockey dasherboard system must be made of strong materials, yet lightweight enough to be removed in between hockey games.
Typical dasherboard structural laminates work very well for use with indoor hockey rinks. However, Southern and Southwestern states do not have year-round hockey rinks as do some Northern states, making it difficult for players to maintain hockey playing condition throughout the year. The trend in the Southern and Southwestern states is to play hockey outdoors. With the advent of in-line roller skates, outdoor hockey has become a significant trend with intramural leagues and other playing leagues sprouting up and becoming very popular. Outdoor hockey rinks typically do not have protection from the elements, such as sun, heat, wind, and rain. For this reason, typical hockey dasherboards do not work well under the unrelenting sunshine and soaring temperatures and humidity that are typical of most Southern and Southwestern states. Typical hockey dasherboards stop functioning and tend to degrade over time when exposed to such extreme elements and, in some instances, begin to melt. This is, of course, extremely dangerous not only for the outdoor hockey players but the spectators of such events.
This invention is directed to a structural laminate for use as a dasherboard comprising a first layer of fiberglass, a layer of rigid foam made of polyvinylchloride, a first bonding layer operatively arranged to bond with the first fiberglass layer and the foam layer, a second layer of fiberglass, and a second bonding layer operatively arranged to bond with the second fiberglass layer and the foam layer. The invention is also directed to a method of making the structural laminate, comprising the steps of bonding a first layer of fiberglass to a foam layer, bonding a second layer of fiberglass to the foam layer; and sealing the bonded layers of fiberglass and foam. The invention is further directed to a dasher board system for use in enclosing an athletic playing field comprising a flat playing surface resting on dirt, the playing surface further comprising a layer of asphalt on top of a layer of rock; a plurality of dasher boards, a plurality of spaced apart horizontal short and long posts, the posts operatively connected to the dasher boards so as to support the dasher boards, the short posts alternating with the long posts, a plurality of spaced apart footers flush with and extending down from the asphalt layer through the rock layer into the dirt, the posts fixedly anchored to the footers; a plurality of brackets; the brackets fixedly connecting the dasher boards so that the connected dasher boards are vertically upright.
It is an object of this invention to provide a new structural laminate for use with hockey dasherboard systems that is suitable for both indoor and outdoor use.
It is an additional object of this invention to provide a new structural laminate for use with hockey dasherboard systems that is especially suited to outdoor use, able to withstand the effects of sun and high temperatures as well as cold temperatures.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a structural laminate that is strong, yet thin and lightweight for easy construction and deconstruction.
It is a further object to provide a method for making such a structural laminate.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiments when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.